Items to be cleaned in an automatic dishwashing machine are soiled with food residues. The nature of the residues is quite diverse depending on the food that has been deposited on or cooked in the dishware/tableware. Usually the food residues have a plurality of malodours associated to them. Malodours can also come from food residues accumulated in dishwasher's parts such as the filter. The filter is usually a wet environment with food residues prone to bacteria degradation that usually have malodours associated to it.
The malodours can become evident during the automatic dishwashing operation either because there is superposition or combination of malodours that in terms give rise to other malodours and/or because the high temperature and humidity conditions found during an automatic dishwashing operation contribute to an easier perception of the malodours. Malodours can also be evident upon loading the dishwasher, especially if food residues degrade or rot.
Automatic dishwashing machines are usually placed in kitchens where users cook and frequently eat and they do not like to have unpleasant odours coming from the automatic dishwashing machine.
There is a need to reduce or eliminate the malodours that are generated during an automatic dishwashing operation and substitute the malodours by pleasant fragrance in the area surrounding the dishwasher during use.
Machine fresheners are known in the art. They are devices that hang in the dishwasher and release a perfume over time. The perfume release profile tend to be non-homogeneous over time, usually a high level of perfume is delivered at the beginning of the life of the freshener—that sometime can be overpowering—and the release profile can drop dramatically with time. In addition, the fluctuating temperature and humidity conditions found in an automatic dishwashing environment lead to some difficulties with some of the known machine fresheners.
The aim of the present invention is to overcome the above mentioned drawbacks.